Conscience is Everything
by Nahadria-Leralonde
Summary: Seto gets home after Mokuba's preformance, and can't concentrate on his work. He goes for a walk and finds Joey being beaten by thugs. Seto feelings, Joeys feeling, everything comes out.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: Hello! OK this is something I just randomly thought up (it might suck, I'm going to try to write it anyways) after watching Gladiator and Titanic. If it's really bad, please don't rant and rave at me, because I don't care. R/R if it's any good (good being the key word). Oh, by the way, my signs are reversed. 'Blah' is speech, and "blah" are thoughts.  
  
If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh I could afford to buy a computer with a Word program that doesn't have a mind of it's own. Unfortunately, I don't. Boo freakity hoo.  
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Normal P.O.V.  
  
Seto was irritated. Not that he didn't want to see Mokuba flapping his arms around wearing a white dress with white fuzzy wings, he just didn't have time. He had a speech to perfect for tomorrow, and it was late. Not to mention Mokuba wanted him to stay and mingle with these...er...people. In this crowd of low-lived morons, he noticed that of all people Mokuba was staying and chatting lightly with Yugi and Joey. He glanced coldly over at the three of them, and his eyes met Joey's. He and Joey both immediately turned their glance toward the same spot on the floor, and Seto noticing this, became even more irritated, and started to walk towards the door.  
  
'Come on Mokuba, it's late and I have to finish that speech. We'd best be going.' And risking a look at his little brother, he turned around. The same thing happened. He and Joey's eyes met again, only this time he smirked, almost daring Joey to say something to him. He didn't.  
  
'Alright Seto, I'll be out in a minute!' Mokuba responded, rather obediently. He knew his brother had a lot to do, but he felt like Seto was taking advantage of the situation. He didn't like Mokuba talking with Yugi or any of his friends.  
  
After Seto and Mokuba had arrived home, and Mokuba had gone to bed, Seto finally got a chance to work on his speech in peace. But he couldn't concentrate.  
  
"Maybe I need a break..." he thought. 'Alright, I'll go for a walk.' And he headed out the door.  
  
He knew it was probably would have been better if he hadn't taken to alleys, but he wanted to avoid human contact. He wasn't paying attention to where he was walking anyways. After minutes of pointless wandering, Seto realized he had no idea where he was. He knew from the stories that Mokuba had told him off the news (he never watched TV) that when you're lost, just stop and think, and don't freak out. Well, when Seto stopped, everything became quite. His footsteps weren't there anymore, and he could hear the wind rustling the bits of paper and trash on the ground. But there was something else too. If he listened closely he could hear low grunts, which might have been words. After a minute of wondering whether he was imagining these, he started off, following the noises.  
  
Seto's P.O.V.  
  
I heard some voices, low and gruff, but I followed them anyways. I'm amazed that I could even find where they were coming from with just my ears, but I did. I found myself peeking around a corner into a dead end, where four large, heavy men were ganging up on a smaller blonde one. Not until I heard the smaller one yell did I realize it was Joey. One of the large men, dressed in black, went over to Joey, cautious of what he might do. They must have heard his reputation. Joey took care of him like it was no problem. He kicked the guy in the stomach, then slammed his head against the brick wall of the alley, and threw him aside. He must have had a look on his face daring the rest to join their friend on the ground, but they all came at once. Two held Joeys arms and tied them behind his back, and then tied his legs up as well. The third, hit him in the stomach, making him double over. When he straitened up again, the guy hit him again. They beat Joey until he couldn't move on his own. Then the one who beat him up went over and started to unzip his pants. I could see the pain, uncomfort, and shame in his eyes, but he did nothing. This was crossing the line. Before I knew what I was doing, I had stepped into the alley.  
  
'Why don't the three of you go on and play your games somewhere else?' I asked. They did nothing. 'Alright, you have to the count of ten to get your sorry asses out of my sight or I'm calling the police.' I took my phone out and dangled it in front of them. 'One...two...three...' they all ran, the stupid bastards. I called the police anyways. I don't know whether they ever caught them, but I didn't care.   
  
Now Joey was looking just pathetic. He was leaning against the wall, his legs and arms tied up, and his pants unzipped. I didn't want to go untie his limbs, but what choice did I have? I just scared away his attackers, and then I had to finish the job.  
  
Mentally, I kicked myself. Why did I care whether Joey was beaten and raped? It mattered not to me, nor Mokuba. And he must be kicking himself as well for having me, the one who calls him mutt, save him, when he himself couldn't. I could still see the shame burning in his eyes, and the pain from his beating. I can almost feel it. Then a small voice in my head, that I never knew I had, being as it was my conscience, said something to me.   
  
'Why do you hesitate to untie him, Seto?' it questioned. I don't know. 'Why don't you go finish your act of heroism? You weren't hesitant before to help him. Why are you now?' I don't know, and I don't understand why.  
  
And if I hadn't known it was my conscience, I might have thought I was going insane, because a second voice had something to say as well. 'Yes, Seto, why? Why did you save him before, and now you won't even step closer? You're going to have to touch him anyways, why not now?'  
  
The second voice responded to the first, 'Because it's eating him alive that he loves Joey and he can't have him.' This was outrageous. I did not! How dare it accuse me of something so ridiculous! 'Seto, you do. We know. We are you, only we tell the truth.'  
  
'He does.' The first voice mused. 'Seto.' it taunted, 'Go untie your friend, you can run along home afterwards.' It said, a slight bit of amusement in its voice. That can't be good, I though. Afterwards? What was that supposed to mean? Now I'm afraid to even go near Joey. Look at all the pain I've caused him!  
  
I guess that for this whole conversation in my head, I only hesitated a minute before I almost ran to untie Joey. I let him zip up his pants.  
  
Joey's P.O.V.  
  
Oh great. Here I am, looking like something the dog brought in. Speaking of dogs, if Kaiba says anything to me that even sounds like he might put the word mutt into it, I'm going to beat him up as bad as they beat me up. But he did just save me from something I'm sure I wouldn't have wanted. Ar, what am I saying? I could have gotten myself out of that situation; I've been in worse.  
  
'Then why weren't you getting yourself out before Kaiba came?' A small voice in my head said. 'Its human nature to deny things you wish weren't true.'  
I'm not denying anything! I could have gotten myself out of that. Damn, those ropes are uncomfortable. When I tried to move, I couldn't. A pain like four knives stabbing every part of my body came when I tried to move anything. Why was Kaiba just standing there? I want him to come untie me!  
  
'Maybe you want him to untie for other reasons than just the ropes, Joey.' The voice in my head said to me. What was it talking about? I didn't know what it meant. I'm so confused right now. 'Don't play stupid Joey, you know what I'm talking about.' It said, no I really didn't. There's only one thing it could have meant by that, and that wasn't it. 'That's right Joey, now you're thinking. You've guessed it.' WHAT?!?! That's not true you stupid voice! I do not just want Kaiba to touch me! Do you know what that implies? 'Yes Joey, that's why I said it. Like I said before Joey, it's human nature to deny what you wish isn't true.' Ah, this is just going over. No, I don't! I do not love Kaiba.  
  
Right then, Kaiba came over and started to untie me. Strangely enough, I enjoyed it. He untied my legs and my arms, but left me to zip my pants back up. I was grateful. That would have been uncomfortable. Aye, but I didn't know what that meant until the walk home... 


	2. Sneering Voices and Sickening Revenge

Author's Note: Jesus Christ it's been like a year since I posted the first chapter on this one!!! MY BAD! You are all allowed to shoot me. Sorry! So, anyways, if I may resume my story...and don't forget to review!! I'm going to put the key up here: (1) have you ever heard Hybrid Theory? Have you ever heard Papercut (that's the song I'm making reference to)? If you have, you'll understand why I picked that song for this particular case.  
  
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As Joey entered his.er...home, he didn't notice his dad passed out on the couch with empty beer bottles all over the place. One, this was normal for Joey's father, and two he was rather preoccupied. What had just happened? Joey thought Kaiba was a heartless jerk that didn't give one way or another what happened to anyone save himself and Mokuba. So then why had he saved Joey? And not to mention that that was severely embarrassing. Joey, helpless and scared, had run into his archenemy, which ended up saving him. Now that's what you'd call ironic.  
  
He meandered up the stairs and into the bathroom. The mirror was dirty and the bathtub was an unnatural brown color. It was disgusting. But what could he do about it? There were more pressing matters in his life other than the poor state of his house. It was rather embarrassing actually, but he really could think of no other reason why Kaiba would save him, other than he wasn't hated as bad as Joey thought he was. That was disturbing.  
  
He walked over to the bathtub, limping because of his beating, and turned the nozzle. The water began to pour out- hot, hot, and hot. It poured out of the faucet like blood. Like blood? Was Joey really thinking that? Since when did Joey compare water with blood? 'Since just now....' that eerily familiar voice whispered in his head. It always told him when he was doing something wrong.... and it was always there, whether Joey wanted it or not.  
  
Joey couldn't ever have lived through what he had if he didn't have music. His dad hated it- all of it, and would definitely break Joey's CD if he heard it. But his father, if you could call him that, was passed out in the living room. And he wouldn't be waking up even if Joey had turned up his stereo as loud as it could go. But he wouldn't- he needed this stereo to last as long as possible.  
  
Joey was, as most are not, rather strongly attached to hard rock. Raw screaming, some call it. He liked everything from Linkin Park to Mushroomhead. But no one could have ever guessed that Joey was like that, he came of more timid. But he was all the same. At the moment he dragged his stereo into the bathroom, and turned it on. He put in a CD he hadn't really heard for a long time- Linkin Park. But it was an old CD; it was way different than they're new. And that's why Joey liked it. He was really feeling for the first song at the moment (1).  
  
So he undressed and slid into the bathtub, letting the heat and the wetness of the water wash over him. The hot water of a bathtub always allowed him to think. To think better than he usually did. It cleared his mind, which would wander to whatever he wanted to think about. At the moment it was Kaiba.  
  
Joey jerked his head up. It had been drooping into the water, which was tickling his chin pleasantly. Was he really thinking about Kaiba? And kindly? How odd.  
  
'Yesssss,' sneered that voice. 'How VERY odd.'  
  
Joey could only notice the emphasis and sarcasm it put on the word very. How odd.  
  
'You know, you really sicken me Joey. You can not accept the fact that you ARE different can you?'  
  
These voices had strange enough advice. But he was used to them. They had complete control over his thoughts. They WERE his thoughts.  
  
No. No he couldn't. He knew he was different, and he wouldn't accept it. He kicked himself mentally over that for years.  
  
'That's right Joey. Now you get it. We do have control you dog.'  
  
Did they just call him a dog?  
  
'Why does it matter? Is that Kaiba's pet name for you?' it said, every word dripping with seeming hatred.  
  
No! It is absolutely NOT a pet name. It's an insult.... that he uses every time he sees him. Is it?  
  
'Joey, you know.'  
  
He knows what?  
  
'Don't play stupid. You're different in more ways than your choice in music.'  
  
He didn't have a thing for Kaiba. He couldn't. All his life he was brought up thinking that was wrong. His father was 100% homophobic. How could he turn out like that after years of being told that it was disgusting unacceptable and wrong?  
  
The voice didn't have an answer to that one.  
  
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Kaiba walked in his door, only to see Mokuba up, and sitting on the couch staring strait into nothing.  
  
"Mokuba?"  
  
He didn't answer.  
  
Good lord what happened to him?  
  
'He's probably just asleep you nitwit.' It was that voice that talked to him earlier. It seemed angry. But Seto wasn't going to deal with crap from voices in his head at the moment. He made a note to see his psychiatrist.  
  
'Then why are his eyes open? He snapped mentally.  
  
'I don't know,' it sneered. 'Why don't you go and see?'  
  
That couldn't be right. Why would it tell him to do something so obvious?  
  
'I don't trust you. What's going to happen to me?' he asked the voice in his ear.  
  
'Nothing. Just go and see what's wrong with your brother.'  
  
Seto walked over to the couch, and for the first time in many years, he was suspicious and a bit scared. Why was Mokuba staring like that? That was unnatural.  
  
He made his way over to the couch slowly, looking for anything that might possibly hurt him or his brother. He found nothing, and knelt down in front of his brother. He didn't even seem to see Seto there, yet he was right in front of him.  
  
Seto noted how odd that was. He proceeded to wave his hand in front of Mokuba's face, but there was no reaction. He reached out to shake Mokuba, becoming more and more suspicious. As his hands were extending out to touch his brother's shoulder, a drop of something red fell off the ceiling.  
  
It landed right in the palm of Seto's outstretched hand. It was just a drop, but it set off some instinctual reaction to snap his hand away from his brother. He looked up, and saw something he never thought he would see in his life. It scared him.  
  
It was blood. It was a plastic bad full to bursting with blood. Just hanging off the ceiling. There was something else. It looked like a note stained red. How was he going to get that down?  
  
'Why don't you get a broom Seto Kaiba? You sure are dumb compared to your reputation.' the voice was there again.  
  
And he did as he was told. He went to get a broom, and returned to the sitting room by the door. But there was something wrong. Mokuba wasn't there anymore. This is probably some sick joke Mokuba was playing on his brother. He was in for some deep shit when he got a hold of him.  
  
He took the broom and poked carefully at the bit of paper, as not to poke down the bad full of red liquid. It was doubtfully real blood. Mokuba sure was good at making it look that way though.  
  
After several minutes of hurried poking the note fell free. It dropped to the floor and Seto immediately snatched it off the ground. And he opened. In a rather untidy scrawl this is what he read.  
  
"We're coming for you next."  
  
And the bad fell from the ceiling, splattering Seto and everything else around with the thick red liquid. And then the unmistakable metallic smell of blood filled them room.  
  
Oh shit.  
  
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Wow, did you guys like that as much as I did? Hehehe...sorry. Why not review please? It doesn't even take that long.... 


	3. Mokuba's Confession and Joey's Escape

Author's Note: Haha. Ok, I only have 7 reviews! How sad! Yeah I know the last chapter was kind of weird.I had to do that for the sake of the plot. Sorry! It's the only chapter like that. I've watched one to many scary movies.like the god damn Texas Chainsaw Massacre! That was fucked up.OK and here you go!  
  
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Seto looked around. Someone was in his house.  
  
First, he had to get to the phone. Second he had to call the police. Third, he had to find Mokuba. That was weird. He just.disappeared. Seto didn't understand.  
  
Either this was a VERY sick joke being played on him and he was going to kicking some ass later, or someone really did murder Mokuba.  
  
If it were a joke, then how would one explain the blood? It wasn't fake.it wouldn't have smelled like that.  
  
Again he looked around. No one seemed to be in the room, but he knew better than to believe something just because you couldn't see it.  
  
He stalked across the room, very carefully, and over to the phone. Just as he was reaching his hand out to pick up the receiver, someone reached out and smacked him square on the hand. He jumped and yelled out in surprise, only to see a face he was sure he would never see again. Mokuba.  
  
At first, Seto was too shocked to be mad. He quickly got over that.  
  
"Damn it Mokuba, was there a POINT to that?! You scared the hell out of me! What the hell is wrong with you?! Now there's fake blood ALL over the living room and I expect YOU-"  
  
"Fake blood?" Mokuba interrupted, sounding confused.  
  
"Yes, Mokuba, fake blood- you put it there! Don't play stupid. Can't you act like an adult and at least accept the fact that you're in a huge load of trouble because you made a VERY poor choice in actions-"  
  
"I didn't put any fake blood anywhere Seto."  
  
"WOULD YOU QUIT INTERUPTING ME?! Do you want me to SHOW you the whole god damn mess?!"  
  
"But I didn't put any blood anywhere."  
  
"Oh my god Mokuba, you're just making everything a whole lot harder for yourself and whole lot more stressful for me."  
  
Seto grabbed his brother roughly by the arm and dragged him into the living room, where the mysterious red liquid was splattered all over. But it still smelled like blood.  
  
"Oh, that's disgusting!" Mokuba said, flinging his arm up to cover his nose.  
  
"Oh come on, haven't you ever smelled blood?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, you'll be smelling it for a damn long time tonight while you're cleaning this up!" he said, very angry. "And who wrote this? That's not your handwriting." He added in a softer voice, holding out the note he picked up earlier.  
  
"I don't know, I've never seen it."  
  
"Oh come on.you don't need to pretend you didn't do it we both know it was you. I'm not mad anymore.as long as you clean this up and never do it again."  
  
"No, seriously big brother, I didn't write that and I didn't put that bag on the ceiling."  
  
"Yes, you did."  
  
"No I didn't."  
  
"Mokuba!"  
  
The two of them were arguing rather viscously, and right as Seto took a deep breath to say a VERY long sentence, they both heard a noise.  
  
A quiet clattering, like dishes falling from their places in the cupboard. Then came the creaking of a door opening. Both Seto and Mokuba froze.  
  
So it wasn't Mokuba after all. And there was someone in his house.  
  
The door continued to creak slowly open, and both Kaiba brothers were frozen, and wondering what was going to happen when that door was fully open.  
  
And just then the doorbell rang. Seto jumped a foot in the air and scrambled over to the door. Who the hell was ringing the doorbell so late in the night? That was lunacy.  
  
He opened the door, only to see a more confused Joey than he had ever seen in his life.  
  
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Joey let his CD run all the way through before getting out of the bathtub and dressing. The room was steamy and hot, and it made his hair hang lank on his forehead. He walked over and looked in the mirror. He never liked what he saw.  
  
Today, as always, he saw a weak, thing, fragile figure with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was stuck to his head from all the water and steam in the room, and he was incredibly skinny. All he saw in that was unhappiness.  
  
Maybe he was just tired.  
  
So he shuffled his way over to the bathroom door, and slowly opened it. He didn't want to wake his father. If he wasn't already up.  
  
He quietly made his way down the hall and through the kitchen. He saw no sign of his dad anywhere. That was good, because he wouldn't have to deal with him, but it was also not good. He had no idea where his father was.  
  
He was almost to his bedroom door, when he heard his father grunt some unknown word in his drunken stupor. He stumbled out the door of his room, which was right next to Joey's, who froze.  
  
He really really didn't want to talk to his dad at the moment.  
  
"JOEY! I can see you, get over here!" his speech was slurred.  
  
Joey on the other hand, had recently unfrozen himself, and bolted for the door. He could hear his father running and stumbling after him. Thank god he was skinny and stealthy, so he easily weaved his way around all sorts of things that did not belong in a home, and unlocked the door. He stepped outside and slammed the door right in his father's face. He heard him run smack into the wooden door.  
  
That felt good.  
  
He didn't wait long before making a mad dash out of the apartment complex and across the street, where he slowed to a walk. He was beginning to lose track of al the times he had to run from his father in order to keep his head on his shoulders. Damn drunken bastard.not even a father. Just a man. A worthless one.  
  
Joey had not bee paying any attention to where he was walking, and found himself face to face with Kaiba's door. He knocked. Not something he was planning on doing.  
  
And there stood Kaiba, with the most intriguing face Joey had ever seen him wear.  
  
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Hmmmm. is it just me or this getting weirder and weirder? Well, it'll all make sense after a while, I promise. I'm trying to make this an interesting story that isn't weird, but I'm finding it hard to do. Haha. Don't forget to review. 


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